Puppy Class

The puppy class starts at 7.30pm on Wednesday each week and lasts about 45 minutes.

Dogs should be under a year old, the younger the better, and have had their “jabs”.

There is no need to sign up to a set number of classes and there is no distinct starting week.

Booking-in is not necessary, just bring the dog along.

The first week is free, a taster. Come along, try it, and if you don’t like it walk away, otherwise join on your next visit.

There is a weekly fee of £3 per dog per class, and an annual membership fee of £15. (It’s half-price for handlers aged <16 or >65.)

If you do come along to our club we expect you to bring the pup, a normal soft collar and lead (not a flexi and not a chain – we will be asking you to drop the lead and let the pup run around dragging the lead behind for part of the time), and a good supply of small treats that really interest your dog (meaty chunks of chicken or sausage or little cubes of cheese usually work really well.)

Don’t feed the pup just before you bring it; it will be more interested in the treats and be less likely to leave a “deposit” during the visit. Also, give it a short walk so it has an opportunity to “eliminate” - that means “do one” - before it arrives, and don't forget to bag it and bin it.

The most important things that your puppy will learn at puppy class are:

to inhibit its bite,

to happily encounter people,

to happily encounter dogs.

In puppy class your dog will spend some part of each session running around off-leash with other dogs, at which time some of their play will involve biting. Other puppies are the very best teachers. Your puppy will bite. This is good. When they hurt another pup it will yelp and the fun will stop. This way they learn to bite more gently so as not to stop the game.

“The more your puppy bites, the safer its jaws will be as an adult, since it will have had more opportunities to learn that biting hurts.” (Ian Dunbar)

In addition to this organised chaos (we like to call it socialisation) the puppy class follows the Kennel Club’s Puppy Foundation Assessment scheme. This lays the foundations for a well-behaved dog. The maximum age for a puppy is 12 months, and puppies must attend for a minimum of 4 weekly sessions over an 8 week period.

As part of any normal dog training process, training the owner is as important as training the puppy, therefore both owners and puppies are assessed. The course includes 12 different exercises and each exercise will be covered as part of each training session. They are: -